Category: Iraq

Iraq’s self-ruled Kurds can’t sell Iraqi crude oil in the U.S. under a court decision that puts a fresh hurdle in the path of Kurdish efforts to achieve financial independence from the central government in Baghdad. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans dismissed an attempt by the Kurdistan Regional Government to overturn a judge’s earlier decision against its planned sale of oil to an unidentified buyer in the U.S. The KRG’s eventual sale of the disputed cargo in Israel made the appeal moot, the court said in a ruling. The case began last year when Iraq’s central government sued to seize a tanker loaded with crude from the country’s Kurdish region that had sailed to the Gulf of Mexico and anchored 60 miles (97 kilometers) off the coast of Texas. The appeals court upheld an order by a judge in Houston requiring the […]

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AP Photo/Hadi Mizban BAGHDAD (AP) — Two suicide attackers targeted Iraqi police checkpoints in commercial areas in central Baghdad during rush hour Thursday, killing at least 14 people, officials said. Both attacks were carried out by bombers on foot, wearing explosives-laden vests, two police officers said. One bomber struck in Baghdad’s Bab al-Sharji area, killing eight civilians and a police officer there. Twenty-one were wounded in that explosion. The second bomber hit in al-Wathba Square, killing five people, including two policemen, and wounding 12. Two medical officials confirmed the casualty figures. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to talk to reporters. Iraq is going through its worst crisis since the 2011 withdrawal of U.S. troops. The Islamic State group controls large swaths of the country’s north and west after capturing Iraq’s second-largest city of Mosul and the majority of the western Anbar province […]

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British company Genel Energy takes on larger stake in gas assets in the Kurdish north of Iraq. Photo courtesy of Genel Energy. LONDON, Sept. 15 (UPI) — British energy company Genel Energy said it was buying the minority share of a Kurdish natural gas field form its partners at Austria’s OMV. Genel said it struck a deal to buy the 36 percent stake in the Bina Bawi gas field in the Kurdish north of Iraq. The British company said the deal is dependent only on the approval of the semiautonomous Kurdish government, with it expects shortly. "The consideration comprises an upfront payment of $5 million," Genel said in a statement. "A contingent payment of $70 million is payable once gas production exceeds agreed threshold volumes from the Miran and Bina Bawi fields." Genel in 2012 paid $156 million to take on Miran assets from Heritage Energy Middle East Ltd., […]

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Sign up for quick access to a wealth of global business news, including: Iraq warns big oil groups on spending curbs in southern oilfields Newspaper + Premium online Newspaper + Premium online Premium Full FT.com subscription Premium Full FT.com subscription Standard Full news & archive Standard Full news & archive Trial Try Premium online Trial Try Premium online Price Monthly Annual $66.30 $11.77 per week $53.00 $9.25 per week $36.00 $6.45 per week $1.00 for 4 weeks $1.00 for 4 weeks FT Alphaville plus selected FT blogs yes yes yes yes Unlimited FT.com article access yes yes yes yes Unlimited mobile and tablet access yes yes yes yes Unlimited fast FT yes yes yes yes 5 year company financials archive yes yes yes yes The LEX column yes yes no yes ePaper access yes yes no yes Three exclusive weekly emails yes yes no yes Daily newspaper delivery yes […]

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Iraq plans to increase exports of Basrah crude by 26 percent next month, as the country continues to raise output amid fighting with militants and a payment dispute with the northern Kurdish region, according to a loading program obtained by Bloomberg News. The Middle Eastern country plans to export a combined 81 cargoes of Basrah Light and Basrah Heavy grade crudes totaling 114 million barrels in October, according to the program. That’s an increase from the 90.5 million barrels planned for shipment in September. Loading programs are planned schedules for shipments during a given month. The October program would mean a record for exports if Iraq made all the shipments planned for the month. However, loading programs are subject to change, and the country’s actual exports can vary from the plan. Total exports in June were 3.19 million barrels a day, Oil Ministry data show, falling short of the […]

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Iraq’s oil ministry has issued a stark warning to the international oil companies running its energy sector that it will slash spending in 2016 as the country feels the full effect of low crude prices and the fight against Islamic State . A Sept. 6 letter from an oil ministry official is fresh evidence that Iraq is struggling to maintain a swift expansion of its energy sector that has made it the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’s second-largest producer with 4 million a barrels a day or more this summer. “Because of the drop in our oil-sales revenues, the Iraqi government has sharply reduced the funds available to the Ministry of Oil,” the official, Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, wrote. “This will…reduce the funds available for the reimbursement of petroleum costs to our contractors.” Mr. Ameedi also wrote that the oil ministry didn’t expect lower funding to “reduce production from […]

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Iraq asked oil companies to reduce their 2016 spending plans in the country by Sept. 30, citing lower oil prices and government revenue. The reduced budgets shouldn’t affect 2015 production, Abdul Mahdy Al-Ameedi, director of licensing at Iraq’s oil ministry, said by phone Tuesday, citing a letter that the ministry sent to companies. Iraq is now producing more than 3 million barrels a day, he said. “We’ve asked them in a letter we sent them to take into consideration the drop in oil prices and the low revenues of the government that may not cover their investments,” al-Ameedi said. “There was a stipulation that this investment reduction must not affect oil output from the fields that was in the 2015 schedule.” OPEC’s second-largest crude producer is facing a slowdown in investment due to lower oil prices while fighting a costly war on Islamist militants who seized a swathe of […]

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Iraq’s oil ministry has issued a stark warning to the international oil companies running its energy sector that it will slash spending in 2016 as the country feels the full effect of low crude prices and the fight against Islamic State . A Sept. 6 letter from an oil ministry official is fresh evidence that Iraq is struggling to maintain a swift expansion of its energy sector that has made it the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’s second-largest producer with 4 million a barrels a day or more this summer. “Because of the drop in our oil-sales revenues, the Iraqi government has sharply reduced the funds available to the Ministry of Oil,” the official, Abdul Mahdy al-Ameedi, wrote. “This will…reduce the funds available for the reimbursement of petroleum costs to our contractors.” Mr. Ameedi also wrote that the oil ministry didn’t expect lower funding to “reduce production from […]

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The country’s 2015 federal budget empowers the ministry of finance to draw additional financing from sources including the IDB, the prospectus said. Iraq will seek up to $500 million in loans from the Jeddah-based Islamic Development Bank (IDB) to help cover its projected deficit, complementing the country’s return to the international debt market , according to the bond’s prospectus. Baghdad wants to raise up to $6 billion in a series of dollar-denominated bonds, Iraq’s first in nine years, to fund salaries as well as infrastructure projects in the oil and gas, electricity and transportation sectors. The country’s 2015 federal budget empowers the ministry of finance to draw additional financing from sources including the IDB, the prospectus said. Out of the $500 million, $225 milion would be used for the development and renovation of a major trade corridor that links Iraq with neighbouring countries, the document said. The IDB originally […]

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* Lower oil prices have hit reserves, budget * No threat seen to local currency peg * Banking reforms to include privatisation BAGHDAD, Sept 8 (Reuters) – Lower oil revenues have cut Iraq’s foreign currency reserves to about $60 billion, the central bank governor said on Tuesday, enough to cover about 18 months worth of imports for OPEC’s second-largest oil producer. The plunge in oil prices since last year and Iraq’s fight against Islamic State militants have put severe pressure on its finances. The government has projected a fiscal deficit of about $25 billion this year, in a budget of roughly $100 billion. Those factors have also chipped away at international reserves, which fell to $66 billion at the end of 2014 from $78 billion at the end of 2013, according to the International Monetary Fund. But Ali al-Alak told Reuters that a drop in dollar-denominated expenditures has also […]

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